Union leaders gave a cautious welcome today to an offer by MG Rover bosses to hand over #49 million of assets to help buy time for efforts to save thousands of jobs in Birmingham.

Directors at Phoenix Venture Holdings (PVH) sent a letter to administrators offering to make available the assets, which include Studley Castle in Warwickshire which is believed to be worth up to #8 million.

Other assets include PVH's stake in properties owned by its dealers, cash, and the final instalment due on the sale of its parts business.

The directors include the original "Phoenix 4", the businessmen who bought MG Rover from BMW for a nominal #10 in 2000, as well as two other businessmen.

Chairman John Towers said in his letter that if the offer was not taken up, the assets would be put into a trust fund for the benefit of families at the huge factory in Longbridge.

Thousands of workers have been sent home on full pay for the rest of the week while administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) try to revive talks aimed at securing a partnership deal with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.